Iowa State receives $1.6 million for nuclear energy research

Monday, September 23, 2013 12:02 PM

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded nearly $1.6 million to Iowa State University for nuclear energy research. The award is part of $60 million in funding designed to help train and educate the next generation of leaders in the nuclear industry and to support new and advanced nuclear technologies, the agency said. According to industry estimates, the U.S. electric power industry will have to replace more than 25,000 nuclear energy workers in the next few years as an estimated 30 percent of that workforce reaches retirement age. ISU was also awarded $800,000 for a fuel cycles technologies project and $790,822 for a reactor concepts project. Those awards were part of $42 million in federal funds to support 61 university-led nuclear energy research and development projects to develop innovative technologies .